I am gaining more confidence now that Nats will likely sign ALR. He is not being linked to any other and some beat reports and national reporters seem confident too. Why don't we add a club option if necessary?

How to put together cheap bullpen every season? Follow Rays! I need to look at their respective salaries but I am pretty sure no one was earning 'closer money' as everyone likes to call it. I find it absurd that you have to pay one reliever $5 million or more to pitch 60-70 innings (Papelbon, Rivera, etc made at least $12 million in some seasons).

FarazOn ALR – yeah, but the reporters and rumors get it wrong so often that you should always beware the "mystery team." And of course if there really is no market for him, then the 3d yr option is superflous.Bullpen – A good closer is worth $5M a year. A LOOGY or middle reliever, not so much.

Farz & Hiram — MLBrumors reports Brewers listening to offers for Corey Hart. According to the rumor they aren't anxious to trade him but are listening. Moving Hart would put the Brewers in line for a real 1B.

Bit of a snub for the Nats to leave early, but I'm one to do exactly the same thing, since I hate the small-talk-in-the-hallway/boring presentations/overpriced restaurants/trade show plastic junk giveaways/parties-in-hotel-rooms scene. Some the GMs and managers doing these interviews on MLB Network are strange. Watching Walt Weiss (Rockies new manager) now, he can't be sober, really.

Yeah, left town with a 5th SP that has lost 7 mph off his FB, and without their best set-up man over the past 3 years–at a price even the Oakland A's could afford!Rizzo and Co. should have phoned it in from D.C., and saved the hotelling fees!

Doc, 7 MPH!! so when was it that Dan Haren through 95-96 in the mlb? he lost 2 mph and if you noticed Burnett had a surgery this offseason there might be an unknown reason they didn't persue him who knows. They left with a complete lineup – maybe laroche and 1 lefty in the pen. So they were pretty much done.

mick, I think almost everybody in baseball feels that the Nats' pitching improved substantially with Dan Haren vs. EJ . Comparatively speaking, Jackson was a one dimensional pitcher vs.a crafty, control pitcher with a varied array of effective pitches.

Nats draft at #30. Gonna be slim pickings. But maybe there is a guy in there that Rizzo has his eye on, and didn't want to tip his hand. MLB is supposedly cracking down on teams getting Rule 5 picks, DL'ing them for most of the season and then returning them to the original team with a year lost in their development.

NatsLady said… Nats draft at #30. Gonna be slim pickings. But maybe there is a guy in there that Rizzo has his eye on, and didn't want to tip his hand. MLB is supposedly cracking down on teams getting Rule 5 picks, DL'ing them for most of the season and then returning them to the original team with a year lost in their development. December 06, 2012 9:35 AM In 2007 the Nats had 3 1st round picks. They got Detwiler (6th overall), Smoker and Burgess. In the 2nd round, these guys were still on the board: Jordan Zimmermann, Giancarlo Stanton, and Freddie Freeman.The first 3 rounds produce most of the stars and there are still many who slip by. Various reasons for that and the most common is many young men at 18 are still growing and maturing and look no further than Ryan Zimmerman and Stephen Strasburg who weren't seriously considered on any draft boards at 18 years old.Its also the reason why 18 and 19 year old Draft Picks are usually wasted ultimately but its all part of the numbers game. AJ Cole is one to watch. He had the best fastball in the country at 18 years old and as we know, it takes a lot more than throwing 97mph at 18 to be successful.

My bad. Of course, NL is talking about the Rule 5 draft, not the regular amateur draft, which is in June, wherein the Nats drafted JZnn in the second round (and Lannan in the 11th) and the Dodgers drafted Mike Piazza with their final pick. Pittsburgh got Clemente in the equivalent to the Rule 5 draft.

Faraz — How is adding a club option for ALR going to convince him to sign? He's the guy who wants the third year guaranteed. I'm not counting my chickens on him yet. Just because Jon Heyman and Ken Rosenthal aren't reporting the other teams that are interested doesn't mean there aren't any. Rizzo is not the only GM who moves stealthily. I'm glad that we have the Mikey the Beast as a Plan B, and judging from Twitter, he seems to be handling it well. (Although who knows, really?)

Jack, like mick, I'm not big on tattoos, but yours is pretty cool.mick, I think, barring a trade, that Tyler is going to have another year of being Davey's big, hair chested, bench guy. The outfield has improved defensively to a point I don't see many opportunities for him there. He'll be the right handed PH bat off the bench and backup first baseman. This all speculative until ALR is signed. Even if Adam doesn't return, Mikey Morse certainly hasn't felt the love from the brass for the past month. Something happened with him last year. The big, goofy galoot that we all loved was MIA for most of the season after he returned from his shoulder injury. I will always feel that there was more there then we fans were privy to as far as what went down between Davey and Michael.There's more to this story then Morse's limited defense.

Been following all the talk about ALR and whether he'll resign with the Nats. My two cents, probably worth half that. While I think odds are right at 50:50 as to whether he comes back, there's one issue probably weighing on him I haven't seen mentioned. Davey says he's only back for one last year. If ALR signs only for two, he doesn't know what he's getting, in terms of platooning, etc. beyond one year. For a guy who now wants job security for the next three years, having uncertainty beyond one year, post-Davey, even with a club he knows, is likely to be a major factor. Anyone who has ever been hired by someone, only to have a very different manager come on the scene a year later, knows what a difference that makes.One other thing about ALR. While I love his defense, I was less enamored of his offensive numbers last year. It's anecdotal, but I was surprised by how often his HRs and RBIs were in "non-crucial" situations. I could count on one hand, with a few fingers left over, how many times last season he delivered a key hit with RISP. He did walk a few times, also hit a few SFs, but I found him to be less reliable than Desi, Zimm (part of the season), Suzuki, Werth, Lombo, or even Morse in delivering when it really counts. I also leave out the playoffs when I say this. Not that I don't like him in many respects, but he was the one Nat whose overall numbers I found more impressive than the day-to-day ABs. I'd want to keep him mainly for the defense, plus I love the elegance of his swing, and he does connect for about 30 HRs a year, and he's a good guy overall. But he's got to be hesitating about what happens after next year, not just two years.

Unless there's a decent "left"over reliever, it would be hard to imagine getting a Rule 5 guy. There isn't much Rizzo can do until LaRoche decides to stop waiting for a third year. If that were to happen soon, it seems like the Mariners have a deep farm system, I would try to pry the best prospect I could get for Morse from them rather than take a bullpen pitcher. They will need to test out the closer fences there with someone.I agree with posters who think Burnett was worth that contract to the Nats. While he's not really a matchup lefty, he's worth 2 WAR over two years, I'd say.

What? No tomato soup? That's a real disappointment. I'd go for a smoothie, but it's a little cold outside for that.staring out the window waiting for spring said… Haren's physical is set for 2:31-2:57 PM. I spoke to Ryan Zimmerman and his rehab is going well, but he was a little constipated yesterday–probably the grilled cheese with pickles. December 06, 2012 9:25 AM

blovy8, the problem with Burnett started with very high demands which turned many GMs away and the bone chip issue I saw as a positive as it explained away any negatives from his 2012 season. He left millions on the table as many felt he was better than Affeldt given his age.With the Nats, once Burnett declined his option I knew he was gone. Something just tells me Rizzo was ready to turn that page.I really liked Burnett and when healthy he was good enough to be set-up man or emergency closer. As we all know, its not really what we think as Rizzo will do as he wants.

If they were actually ready to turn the page on Burnett Ghost, Johnson wouldn't have been talking about him so much.Losing Rosenbaum takes away that potential loogy too. Maybe the idea is overrated, but there seems to be a decided disinterest in balancing the bullpen after last year where they had too many lefties, it seemed.

Sect222, Kobernus won't stick with the Red Sox I believe. Probably will be returned in Spring Training. Rosenbaum will probably be returned sooner than later but many times these players come back as more valuable players than before.The experience that Komatsu got was invaluable.

blovy8, Johnson has been talking up DeRosa too. Its Rizzo who makes the decision and while he consults with Davey, its Rizzo.Rizzo doesn't value relievers like the fanbase does. He likes young controlable arms and veteran 1 year deals.

I agree with ghost at 10:19. These are basically ST tryouts at trivial cost and no risk to the choosing team. Especially if MLB is really cracking down on the DL scam (that the Yanks pulled with Meyers in 2012), teams have got to be pretty hard up to put an A or weak-performing AA prospect on their 25 man for long into the regular season. Very few pre-injury Flores-type pickups.

Steady, the Red Sox chose Kobernus and traded him to the Tigers already. That changes things slightly as the Tigers were in need of a bench middle infielder on the cheap. Still has to make the team and could see this as cheap insurance in case they can't find someone better. Felipe Lopez, where are you?

Rosenbaum and Kobernus are both fringy prospects. They are both decent and have both moved up nicely and they have both maintained their performances as they moved up but they are 24 and 25 years old respectively and neither has played above AA. It's time to make room for younger prospects from lower levels to see if they can uncover a gem. Since the Nats have many mid twenties and younger players at the big league level there's no urgency to have players ready to move up. There's always Rendon who may be ready by September, Goodwin in a year or so and the catchers who are nearly ready.

Rosenbaum –> CO; Lesson to all aspiring pitchers, screw up your AA year and wind up in Coors Field. If he lasts less than a full year it will be because of PTSD. Either he was injured or it's an indictment of Nats' pitching coaches at minor league level — the guy went from being soup to nuts in the space of about 10 starts. Not saying I had high hopes for him otherwise, except possibly as trade material. Just not Rule 5.

MicheleS said… Sounds like the fanfest ticket sales are pretty brisk..And yes it looks like all the autograph sessions have sold out. December 06, 2012 10:50 AM So much for people complaining about the prices. You are correct. All 8 autograph sessions sold out. Supposedly at 10:05EST all sold-out. I'm sure there are many speculators trying to make a few bucks if they get Bryce Harper or Strasburg but it appears to be a lottery and no guarantee either will be signing or even there.

Michael Young is a year away from leading the AL in hits. Though he is coming off a "bad" year (169 hits), this (Phillies) is a straight salary dump, which would cover more than a third of a three-year deal for LaRoche. (If Rangers don't reel in Hamilton.)